Publications by authors named "L L Voelker"
Background: The prevalence of diabetes remains high, with traditional lifestyle interventions demonstrating limited success in improving diabetes-related outcomes, particularly among individuals with diabetes-related mental health comorbidities. Digital health interventions provide the ability to ease the sustained and rigorous self-management needs associated with diabetes care and treatment. Current interventions though, are plagued by small sample sizes, underpowered pilot studies, and immense heterogeneity in program intervention, duration, and measured outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn order to respond to changing environments and fluctuations in internal states, animals adjust their behavior through diverse neuromodulatory mechanisms. In this study we show that electrical synapses between the ASH primary quinine-detecting sensory neurons and the neighboring ASK neurons are required for modulating the aversive response to the bitter tastant quinine in C. elegans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neural networks and their function are defined by synapses, which are adhesions specialized for intercellular communication that can be either chemical or electrical. At chemical synapses, transmission between neurons is mediated by neurotransmitters, whereas at electrical synapses, direct ionic and metabolic coupling occur via gap junctions between neurons. The molecular pathways required for electrical synaptogenesis are not well understood, and whether they share mechanisms of formation with chemical synapses is not clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Glucocorticoids help restore balance in the body after stress by providing negative feedback to the brain's stress circuits, and their dysfunction may increase stress-related issues like depression and anxiety.
- Researchers studied mutant zebrafish lacking functional glucocorticoid receptors, finding these fish showed heightened stress responses and abnormal cortisol levels even at a young age.
- Treatment with Fluoxetine (Prozac) helped reduce stress responses in mutant zebrafish, indicating that the relationship between glucocorticoid and serotonin signaling is similar across species, paving the way for further research on stress disorders.
Background: Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a serious and often fatal neurologic disease of horses, but few studies have investigated risk factors.
Objectives: To evaluate operation- and individual-level factors associated with likelihood of the occurrence of EPM.
Animals: Data were collected as part of a study of the US equine industry from 1,178 operations representing 83.